


King and Lionheart

by meoqie



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Relationship, Gen, M/M, Post-Series, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-14 16:43:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2199312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meoqie/pseuds/meoqie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following the battle against Gaea, Nico di Angelo leaves the life of a demigod altogether to recover from the wars he's lived through in both lifetimes. After four years living like a normal teenager and slowly healing through therapy and the safe routine of average daily life, his demigod past returns to remind him that he can never stop being the son of Hades. He's faced with the decision as to whether he's healthy enough to return to interactions with the people that remind him of everything he tried to escape. Not to mention the fact that Jason Grace is giving him serious butterflies and he so does not want to deal with that shit again.</p><p>!!!ABANDONED!!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Knock on the Door

**Author's Note:**

> Yet another fandom where I don't have an actual beta, so I'm doing the best I can with proofreading it myself like a dozen times and liberal use of the [Hemmingway app.](http://www.hemingwayapp.com/) So if you see something that feels weird or wrong, whether in the grammar or the characterization, please let me know so I can adjust my writing accordingly! I will not be offended, I actually welcome concrit, however harsh, with open arms. 
> 
> And yes, the title is shamelessly inspired by the song by Of Monsters and Men. If you're an intense Jasico shipper trash baby like me you will get hardcore Jasico vibes from listening to it, too.

_Here’s the thing about the end of the world - when it doesn’t actually end, when the heroes save the day and everyone celebrates, life has to go on after that. And while yeah, it’s pretty great that the earth isn’t destroyed and everyone is alive, living through the end of the world kind of sucks. The official term for it is ‘post-traumatic stress disorder,’ but in laymans language it’s just ‘seen too much shit.’_

_I have been in the deepest pit of hell. Like the actual place. It was pretty shitty. My dad is the literal king of hell and **he** even avoids the place like the plague. What can I say, I have the worst luck ever. Pretty much since I was born the cards have been stacked against me. I sometimes wonder if the Fates took one look at the thread of my life and we’re all like ‘yeesh, I wouldn’t wanna be that kid.’ Whatever. I’m alive, and other than the nightmares that will most likely never go away, I’m doing alright. More than alright, in fact. Overall - pretty good._

_Things definitely started looking up when I decided to say ‘fuck that’ to being a demigod and just tried being a normal person. Being the son of Hades tended to come with a pretty ominous reputation and I was sick of that. Normal people, the ones who can’t see through the Mist, they tend to be more accepting. Sure, I still looked weird and sickly and gloomy, but that’s basically it’s own aesthetic these days. There were people out there who would say ‘oh my god that’s so cool’ if I told them I was the child of the Lord of the Dead. The world outside the two camps was a lot more colorful._

_See, my demigod status never meant that much to me. I never felt like I needed the support and ‘camaraderie’ of ‘people like me.’ It wasn’t until I started living in the real world that I stopped feeling like such a freak. Funny how that works._

_Getting myself back in to ‘real life’ was kind of a challenge. (I don’t understand Camp Half-Blood at all… what do they expect these kids to do with no formal education beyond killing monsters?) But I managed. My saving grace was being pretty smart and observant from the get-go. The one good thing genetics did for me, apparently. Also finding a therapist that believed I’d lived through World War II and fought monsters was an adventure in itself._

_Oh, yeah, that was it’s own clusterfuck. Thanks to my whacked out childhood, I suffered from two separate kinds of PTSD - the one that kids who live through disasters get, and the one that happens to soldiers in combat. Fun. For those of you that aren’t in the know, that equates to occasional bedwetting, nightmares, irritability, **AND** panic attacks, depression, and insomnia. Did I mention that I have the absolute worst luck ever?_

_That all has been getting better, though. Regular therapy and being away from the places where everyone treated me like a pariah has been working wonders._

_It’s been four years since the world ended. I’m eighteen years old. I’m studying the classics at a small college (hey, stick with what you know best.) I’m the son of Hades, the Ghost King, the raiser of dead armies. I’m Nico di Angelo, and my life is pretty good right now._

 

* * *

 

 

  
Nico’s new life was ruined by, of all things, a knock on the door.

“Now who the hell would that be?” he muttered to himself as he stiffly stood from his armchair.

(Netflix marathons tended to result in numb limbs.)

None of his friends would ever think of dropping by without a heads-up text, as they knew he sometimes wasn’t up to having company. And those door-to-door religious people were rarely out and about this late at night. (How late _was_ it, anyway? He’d lost track a few episodes ago.)

The last thing he expected to see when he cautiously pulled open the door, sword within reach, was Jason Grace and Percy Jackson.

They both didn't look much different from the last time he'd seen them, four years ago. Including the post-battle blood and bruises.

"I'm so sorry about this, Nico," Jason panted. "But we got ambushed by some scythian dracanae and we're out of ambrosia. Percy's in bad shape. You're the only demigod in the area. Do you have...?"

Nico nodded, pulling the door open wide and beckoning them in.

"Just put him on my bed," he instructed in a brisk tone, mentally distancing himself from the situation.

"You sure?" Jason asked. "The blood...?"

"I can just wash my sheets," Nico dismissed.

The weird advantage of needing a plastic slipcover on his mattress.

Percy was barely conscious, and Jason ended up just carrying him. Nico directed them towards his 'bedroom.' He had a loft style apartment with almost everything in a single room. The bathroom and a small pantry were the only areas that were separate. It was small but cozy, and in a pretty nice part of town. While he wasn't blessed with the 'gift' of wealth that certain Hades' kids had, he'd never struggled with finances.

"I'll get some ambrosia and nectar from the cupboard," Nico said. "Through that door is the bathroom, there's a first aid kit on the shelf with all the towels."

Jason nodded and strode over to the bathroom door. Nico took on the task of digging his 'demigod supplies' out from behind breakfast cereals and potato chips. He hadn't needed this in quite some time. Sure, he encountered the occasional monster, but nothing to the degree of deadliness as before the war. Most monsters were lying low these days. He could even use a cell phone without hazard.

There was a crash, followed by a raft of cursing, coming from the bathroom. Nico sighed. His shelf was most likely on the floor, now. How Jason managed that he wasn't sure. Once Percy wasn't on deaths door he'd ask. Although the situation wasn't quite that dire. If Percy was dying, Nico would have been able to sense it. But he _was_ pretty beat up.

He analyzed his feelings on the situation as he searched for the ambrosia. While he felt concern for Percy, it wasn't the gut-wrenching panic he would have experienced four years ago. Huh. That was kind of a relief. Pining after someone was annoying.

After yanking just about everything out of his cupboard, Nico located the ambrosia.

"So how'd you knock down my shelf?" he asked Jason casually as they each administered treatment.

"I overestimated how tall I am," Jason admitted. "Tried to reach it without the stool that was there."

Nico laughed.

Jason looked over at him in shock.

"I've never seen you so much as smile before," he said.

Nico looked down as he was pressing small crumbs of ambrosia in Percy's mouth.

"I smile a lot, these days," he said, his voice soft.

"It looks good on you," Jason murmured.

Nico felt his stomach do a weird little flutter. Oh. Oh dear. That could be inconvenient. He should get Percy better and get both of them out of here as soon as possible.

"Thank you," was all he said.

A few minutes later Percy flicked his eyes open.

"Oh holy fucking shit!" he exclaimed. "Nico do Angelo?"

"The very same," Nico replied with a smile.

Percy narrowed his eyes. "No way," he said. "Can't be. You just smiled."

Jason hid a laugh as Nico rolled his eyes.

"Wow, it's like you two compared notes," he muttered. "My ability to be happy is not that spectacular. I might have been before now if certain people hadn't treated me like shit."

His voice turned a little biting towards the end of it as he glared at Percy.

The son of Poseidon had the decency to look a little guilty.

"Yeah, um, about that..." he muttered.

"We can discuss that when you're no longer bleeding on my bedsheets," Nico interrupted. "More bandages, please, Jason."

"Why do you keep things on a shelf you need a stool to reach, anyway?" he asked.

"If I only put things on shelves I could reach without stools, I would lose over half my cupboard space," he pointed out.

"Oh."

"Have you gotten any taller since you were fourteen?" Percy asked.

"No. Malnutrition and insomnia tend to stunt growth."

Percy closed his mouth so fast that his teeth clicked together, and Jason winced.

Presumably, they'd forgotten all about me, Nico thought, resigned. But he hadn't expected anything different. Maybe in passing he'd crossed their minds. "Hey, remember that Hades kid who helped bring that Athena statue back to camp?" "Oh yeah, Nico, wasn't it?" "Yeah. I wonder what ever happened to him." "Beats me." Something like that. He'd never been a particularly significant part of their lives. And clearly they'd never thought about the fact that his life was much rougher than theirs had been. Deadly quests were pretty par for the course in a life of a demigod, and they had warm beds and good food to come home to when those were over.

Obviously he knew neither of them had cushy lives but… knowing that there was someone who would care for them made all the difference in the world. The lord of the dead didn’t exactly a loving father make, even compared to the other absentee parents most demigods dealt with. And while Hazel was a sweetheart - if a little too overprotective - she wasn’t ever his ‘real’ sister.

Nico didn’t even have her anymore. After Frank died she decided to go back to the underworld. They had promised each other they would try to be reborn and meet again in their new lives. Touching and romantic, although unrealistic. But when faced with death often the truth was the last thing people needed. He’d guided her there himself. She had actually asked him if it was alright, if he minded her leaving him all alone. But he didn’t need another sister resentful of him because she couldn’t live her own life thanks to him. So he’d sent her off with his blessings and the hope that the Fates would be merciful and allow her to meet the man she loved again, under kinder circumstances.

Unfortunately, the Fates were not known for their kindness.

"All set," Jason said, finishing up with the antiseptic and bandages.

Nico determined that Percy had enough ambrosia by now, and returned the rest to the ziplock baggie he'd stored it in. Food of the gods - from Mount Olympus to bargain store plastic.

"Thanks for this, Nico," Percy said quietly. Almost, humble? "I don't deserve your kindness, after everything..."

"If we were kind only to those we thought deserved it, the world would be an even worse place," Nico said with a shrug. "And I think I can find it in my heart to forgive you for the way you treated me."

Percy huffed, looking away. “Um, thanks. But I’m sorry, still. I had no reason to act like that.”

Nico hummed. “I think you believed you did, at the time. Now that you see the situation objectively, it’s different. Truly, I forgive you.”

“Thank you.”

Nico offered him a small smile, which the injured demigod returned. Out of the corner of his eye, Nico saw Jason glancing between them, a thoughtful expression on his face. Whatever he was scheming, he had better shut it down quick, before it created an awkward situation. Jason usually meant well but his efforts to help his friends were usually based on what he thought they needed, as opposed to what they actually wanted. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and all that. Except it isn’t literally, it’s not paved at all because hell has existed since before pavement. Where was he going with this?

“Nico?” Jason asked, and the son of Hades shook himself.

“Sorry, spaced out, thinking about pavement,” he murmured.

Jason and Percy looked at each other, raising an eyebrow.

Nico rolled his eyes. “It was a long and weird train of thought, okay?” he said. “Do you guys forget that I’m ADHD too?”

“Yes,” Percy admitted. “You’re always so still and quiet. Or you were. New Nico seems a lot different from the Nico I remember.”

“Good,” Nico said firmly.

If he was different enough that old friends could see it in such a short time, then he was on the right track.

 


	2. Kids Who Survived the End of the World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I GOT CARRIED AWAY BECAUSE I HAD THIS CHAPTER MOSTLY WRITTEN SAVE FOR EDITS I'M SORRY. This probably means the next update won't be for a while because the kickstart I get from a new idea tends only to carry for a couple of chapters. I have a vague idea of what I want to happen in the next chapter but it's going to take some time to actually hammer that out into anything longer that barely 500 words. 
> 
> Also in naming this chapter I realized I have a fondness for children and the apocalypse? I blame Homestuck. *shakes fist at Homestuck*

Percy ended up falling asleep again; a proper healing sleep, instead of injured unconsciousness. Nico allowed Jason the use of his shower while he made some tea for them both. He chuckled to himself as he learned something interesting about Jason - he sang in the shower. Rather loud. He actually had a nice voice, though.

"I appreciated the concert," he said with a teasing grin as Jason emerged in the somewhat cleaner clothes he'd had in his satchel.

Jason flushed. "Sorry, I sort of forgot anyone could hear me. I'm too used to living in a cabin alone."

That was sort of a surprise. "You stayed at Camp Half Blood?" Nico asked, curious.

He passed a cup of tea to Jason, who accepted it gratefully.

"I've been back and forth," he explained. "But I've been staying more at Camp Half Blood ever since Piper and I broke up."

"I'm sorry," Nico said. "I didn't realize."

That was even more confusing, though. Piper was the Greek, _she_ should be the one at Camp Half Blood.

"It's fine," Jason reassured him. "It was a while ago. And I had kind of seen it coming since the beginning, to be honest. It always felt like we just fell into a relationship based on our circumstances. Once there was no longer a situation holding us together, we fell apart. Not to mention she left me for someone who deserves someone as amazing as her far more than I do."

Nico didn't ask 'who' out loud but apparently he didn't need to, because Jason answered anyway.

"Reyna," Jason said with a small smile.

He tried to keep the shock he felt from broadcasting itself across his face but failed, because the older demigod chuckled. Well at least that explained why Piper was at Camp Jupiter instead.

"Yeah, I know, right? I guess it's pretty common for Aphrodite and Venus kids. The goddess of love isn't contained within a single gender."

Nico hummed in acknowledgement. He wasn't sure if he felt comfortable having this conversation with Jason.

"I think we've been in a conservative country for too long," Jason continued. "You'd think the camps would be more open and accepting with that stuff. I mean when you think about Ancient Greek and Roman culture..."

"I know," Nico cut in. "I'm a classics major."

That had definitely been a surprise when he started to delve into the true history of their godly ancestry. It was obvious that the myths and stories were cleaned up to make them acceptable for children, by rather rigid Christian standards. Nothing like Oedipus to make someone feel like their sexual preferences are perfectly acceptable. And he'd never be able to look at Mr. D with a straight face again. Wine was just the tip of the debauchery iceberg. Not to mention the hundreds of years where Greek art was all 'eww girls are gross! Cover them up!'

"I'm sorry," Jason said. "I was just trying to-"

Nico cut him off again. "You don't need to," he assured him. "I'm fine now, really. Here everyone already accepts me for who I am.  And I never plan on going back to camp."

Jason nodded, staring down at his cup of tea. "It's a shame, though," he murmured. "If we had all three sons of the big three, we'd be practically invincible."

Nico frowned. That's what this was about? Jason just wanted him to come back for his powers? He felt stupid for thinking that maybe Jason regretted not getting the chance to befriend him back then. He'd tried after the incident with Eros, but by then Nico was already wary of him.

"I'm sure you do just fine without me," he said, his voice clipped.

"Well we do but I just meant..." Jason tried, trailing off midway. "Never mind. I'm sorry. You're doing well in your life here. I shouldn't push you. It just would be nice to see you every so often . Kids who survived the end of the world should stick together, right?"

"Mm," Nico hummed.

"Maybe I could just visit you once in a while?" Jason asked, faltering and hesitant. "I feel like I sort of missed out back then, when I just took in what everyone already thought about you instead of getting to know you myself. And I'm sorry."

Nico swung his legs under the chair as he stared into his tea. He had every reason to say no. Jason had so many chances to not treat him like he was some double agent or a loner freak. It wasn't until he found out about his 'secret' that he suddenly cared, as if he was a problem to solve. And it just wasn't a good idea. When Jason looked at him, his face flushed and hair damp from the shower, it made his pulse race. Clearly he still had a weakness for self sacrificing heroes with an overbearing need to save the world. How stupid.

"Sure," is what Nico heard himself saying instead. "I'm sure you could use a break from camp every so often. Counsellor notwithstanding, it's not exactly an environment meant for adults."

Jason snorted a laugh. "You got that right. I just want one good nights sleep without something exploding in the Hephaestus cabin, or the Hermes cabin causing something to explode. I feel like an old man, shaking my cane at these whippersnappers to get off my lawn."

Nico laughed. "Nah man, that's my line. I'm technically over ninety years old. Like Captain America or something."

"I didn't know you liked comics."

"I was a kid in the 1930s, remember? Comics were something every kid read. They were new and exciting. You'd take your coins the corner store every week and get the newest release. I was like a kid in a candy store when I realized I now had eighty years worth of reading material to catch up on."

Jason smiled. "Card games and comics. Why on earth was anyone ever scared of you?"

"Because I can create giant fissures in the earth and raise skeleton armies from the dead?"

"Yeah but still. You're a geek."

"Just _try_ to shove me into a locker."

Jason raised his hands in defense. "Whoa hey. I've seen you in battle, I know better than to mess with you. Speaking of, are you out of practice now? Living out here without any need to use it and all."

Nico snorted. "Do you wanna try me?"

"No, no, I just meant, uh, you just. You were really good. Like spectacularly good. It was an honor to watch you and fight beside you. It just would be a shame for you to lose that."

Nico flushed, looking away. "I encounter a monster every once in a while, and I practice against undead warriors to keep myself sharp."

Jason nodded his approval at that. "Good, good. I guess I still think like a prætor sometimes, I hate to lose a good soldier. Although you're far more than a soldier. King is a title that... well it suits you. Leadership looks good on you."

Looks good on him. What an odd word choice. And the second time Jason had said that to him since arriving at his apartment. Nico glanced at him.

“How so?”

Jason looked embarrassed as he stared at the surface of the table. "You looked like a natural leader," he explained. "Better than I did. Or even _Reyna_. When you were commanding legions of the undead you looked taller. You stopped slouching and you held your head high. You radiated authority. I would have followed you into the heart of Tartarus if you commanded it."

Now Nico felt embarrassed, and he hugged his mug of tea to himself, staring down at the liquid to avoid looking at Jason.

"You look a lot like that now," Jason said in a quieter voice. "You aren't slouching as much, and you don't hang your head to hide your face in your hair. All you need is a crown and a scepter and that chair could be a throne," he joked, his tone light.

"I had no idea you paid such close attention to me," Nico murmured, glancing over at him.

Jason flushed. "Uh. I try to be observant. In general. And I guess I paid extra attention to you because at first I was a little suspicious of you. Then I was looking for a way to befriend you."

Nico hummed in acknowledgement. At least he was honest about the suspicion. And he cared more about him than anyone else had, besides Hazel. Although she had felt like it was her job to look after him as his only family.

"You're an interesting person, Nico," Jason continued. "I  regret missing the opportunity to get to know you better. I guess I was hoping for another chance."

Well. Alright then. That was almost word for word exactly what Nico had wanted to hear. Was Jason a mind-reader now?

“Your dad would probably be pissed if you started hanging out with me on a regular basis,” Nico pointed out.

Jason grinned. “Yours too. I think I’ve been the golden child long enough to ‘stick it to the man’ by becoming friends with you.”

Nico raised an eyebrow. “That’s what you consider sticking it to the man?” He shook his head, chuckling. “You’re a lost cause, Jason Grace. But I think I could handle being friends with you.”

Looking sort of bewildered about how he was a ‘lost cause,’ Jason offered Nico his fist.

“Oh my gods, you’re like in your twenties, you’re such a dork,” Nico exclaimed, laughing, but he returned the fistbump.

“This isn’t what the cool kids are doing these days?”

Nico realized that Jason was teasing him, and he balled up a napkin to throw at him.

Never would he have imagined that there would come a day when he’d sit at his kitchen table with Jason Grace, drinking tea and laughing easily. Maybe Jason was right, kids who survived the end of the world should stick together. And make new memories to make up for the ones they wanted to forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a deep an unending passion for geeky Nico. He plays the in-canon version of what's basically a combination of Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic: The Gathering. And he quotes Spider-Man, so he's a comic book nerd too. Precious dweeb baby ahhhhh.


	3. 'Somehow Not Dead' is a Demigod Diploma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing this fic before the release of 'Blood of Olympus' and for a whole heap of reasons it would be way too complicated to change the story enough to allow for that to be included in the background canon. So I'm just going to continue on as if that was not a thing and insert my own ideas for what happened in the final battle. (It was a lot longer and more impressive in my head. And included a lot more of the foreshadowing that somehow didn't foreshadow anything. With a higher body count. Oops.)
> 
> I had this chapter pretty much written weeks ago but I was somehow convinced it wasn't long enough. In a recent re-read I decided that was stupid and I was just going to edit and post it anyway.
> 
> This chapter is almost entirely dialogue, I apologize. I get carried away when writing conversations. Oh and it's in Jason's POV. Apparently that's going to change around. I didn't really plan that but hey. These things are basically living creatures at this point. And no matter how much you tell the creatures to not roll in the mud, dammit, I just gave you a bath, they are undoubtedly going to roll in the mud. I lost where I was going with this metaphor.

“So what did you and graveyard boy talk about while I was out?”

Jason blinked, realizing that Percy just asked him a question.

“What? Oh. Just life.”

“‘Just life’? The kid basically disappeared off the face of the earth. And you talked about life like he’s a former classmate you lost touch with?”

Jason snorted in amusement. The way demigod lives worked, it was kind of equal to losing touch with a high school classmate after graduation. Except they didn't earn a diploma. They earned they title of ‘somehow not dead’ after fighting one of the oldest divine forces in the universe.

“Isn’t disappearing off the face of the earth sort of Nico’s _modus operandi_ anyway?” Jason asked.

Percy nodded. “Yeah, he was always skipping off to the underworld. After Bianca died… well, he didn’t have any reason to stick around. Even Annabeth thought he was creepy, and Annabeth is tolerant of everybody. Everybody who isn’t a girl that she thinks likes me, that is. She has like a spidey sense for that.”

Jason coughed into his fist, hiding a laugh. Apparently her ‘spidey sense’ wasn't limited to girls, even without her being aware of it.

“Anyway,” Jason continued. “There wasn’t much else to talk about besides life. He’s just living like a normal teenager. Got his GED, going to college. Life.”

Percy hummed in acknowledgement. “It’s weird to think of Nico being normal, you know? Out of all of us he wore his godly parentage the most visibly.”

“I don’t think that was his choice, though,” Jason pointed out.

Nico’s abilities were exceptional. He far outstripped Percy and himself. But he paid the price for that with a sense of death that clung to him like cobwebs. It wasn’t as strong now, but Jason could still feel it. He’d refashioned it, though, wearing it like a regal cloak.

“Dude, you spaced out again!” Percy said,  punching him in the arm.

“Oh, right, sorry, I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

“Nico.”

Percy grinned at him, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Oh really? Are you sure you were _just talking_ while I was asleep?”

“Oh my gods, Percy, we’re too old for this,” Jason said, laughing as he shoved Percy. “Yes, we were _just talking_.”

“Did you want to do more than just talk?” Percy continued, still grinning.

Jason paused and analyzed his feelings on the matter. He had been admiring Nico's transformation, but was that the same as being attracted to him?

"Oooooh," Percy was crooning. "You did! You totally did! Oh man, can you imagine what your _dad_ would think about you hooking up with a _Hades_ kid?"

Jason shrugged, chuckling. Out of everything he could have chosen to comment on, Percy latched on to their parentage. He wished he could pass that information along to Nico without it sounding weird.

"What makes you think Nico would even be interested in me?" he asked cautiously.

Percy frowned. "Well, I'm not trying to be offensive or stereotype here. But Nico just never struck me as completely straight, you know?" he explained. "Then again, what do I know. Can you believe that Annabeth isn't straight, either?"

"What?!"

"Yeah! She told me a few months back that she'd been really attracted to Piper, and a few other girls too. She never pursued that because she had me, but she's definitely bisexual."

Huh. Jason never would have guessed. But he didn’t guess that about Piper, either.

"And now you're acting like you've got the hots for Nico," Percy continued, nudging Jason with his elbow. "Not gonna lie, I've had some situations of intense hero-worship. Literally, in regards to heroes. And I don't think it would have taken much persuasion to push that into 'crush' territory. I mean, consider the broad... uh... interests, of our godly parents. Not being completely straight is sort of the _least_ abnormal thing to inherit."

"I don't think that's how genetics work,"  Jason said, rolling his eyes. "And I don't have 'the hots' for Nico. I just admire him for being able to rebuild his own life out of nothing like that. Especially for _Nico_... The fact that he actually sought out help to get therapy and go to school, it was incredibly brave of him."

"Uhhuh," Percy said, sounding still doubtful about Jason's insistence in not being interested. "I will admit that getting help was not very Nico. I wonder what prompted it."

Jason nodded. He'd wondered that himself. He'd been astonished when Nico told him that he regularly saw a therapist.

 

_"Thank the gods that a half-blood in the profession existed," he'd explained. "I'd have been drugged into oblivion in a psych ward otherwise._

 

He'd deemed it too personal of a question to ask what led him to seeking a therapists help in the first place, though.

While none of them had officially attended therapy, all of the older demigods in Camp Jupiter and the counsellors of Camp Half-Blood had opened their homes and their hearts to the survivors of the war. They'd been willing to lend a cup of tea, a comforting word, and a shoulder to cry on, no matter the time. And very often it was in the wee hours of the night, following nightmares that felt all too real.

Jason knew he'd never fully recover, none of them would. But they were no longer as fractured as they used to be. They would be alright, and go on living their normal lives. Well, as normal as life for a demigod could ever be.

"I think this is far enough," Percy said.

Jason looked around. They had walked out of the city after leaving Nico's apartment, searching for a secluded enough area to summon their individual mounts.

There was nothing but cornfields as far as the eye could see. Jason nodded, and they both whistled for their 'horses.'

"Should we tell Chiron and Mr. D that we met Nico?" Percy asked as they waited for Blackjack and Tempest to arrive.

"Yeah," Jason pronounced. "I'm sure Chiron has been worried. Mr. D will pretend to not care, but he's not _that_ much of an ass."

Percy snorted. "I wouldn't be so sure. Isn't the ass actually one of the symbols of Dionysus?"

Jason thought for a moment before he nodded. "As far as I know he's sort of an all-purpose god. In addition to wine and parties he also oversees reincarnation, insanity, predatory cats, and plays. Oh, and cross-dressing."

"Cross-dressing."

"Yeah."

"Well, that explains those flowery dresses I found in the big house once."

Jason glanced at Percy and they both burst out laughing. He wasn't going to judge lifestyles but... Mr. D didn't exactly have the body for floral print dresses. He probably looked like a middle aged Hawaiian housewife.

 

With a crackle of thunder from Tempest and an answering whinny from Blackjack, who refused to be outdone, their rides descended from the clouds.


	4. Bad-Mouthing the Big Man Upstairs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Abandon all hope of a regular update schedule. I am terrible at wrangling my thoughts into coherency. I am so sorry.

Jason and Percy’s unexpected visit reminded Nico that there was someone else in his life that he’d lost touch with. Someone who deserved an update the most, since she’d kept him alive on a shadow-trip across the world. So the first day he had completely free of classes and minimal homework, he hopped a shadow over to the west coast. Once, it would have been a tiring trip. Now he didn’t feel any more weary than he would from running up a short flight of stairs.

He appeared in the shadows around the temple of Pluto, as usual. With a sad smile he placed his palm on one of the columns supporting the pediment. He hadn’t been here since Hazel left, and seeing it brought up memories of their visits. He missed her, but it wasn’t the profound ache it had been at first. Now he could think about the time spent with her as a nice memory, instead of a painful one.

Since he was already here, he entered the temple to say a quick prayer for her and Frank in their new lives. In his absence the temple had most likely been neglected, anyway.

As he knelt on the stone floor, the shadows shifted and twisted, and the temperature plummeted. Nico swallowed hard as he recognized the signs that his father was about to make an appearance. Someone else he hadn’t spoken to in quite some time.

“Dad,” he said levelly once the shadows coalesced into the figure of the Lord of the Dead. He was Hades for the most part, but had borrowed enough of Pluto to not look out of place in the Roman temple.

“Son,” Hades replied in just as even and bland a tone. “You look well.”

“I am,” Nico said, nodding.

Hades looked pleased at that.

“I thought it best that I keep my involvement in your life to a minimum until you decided to seek me out in some way,” he said. “You appeared to want to distance yourself from everything I represented.”

“I appreciate that." There was no sarcasm in his voice when he said that.

“But I have missed you,” Hades continued, looking a little sheepish. “You’re the only child I have left. Perhaps... you could make time to come down for a visit every once in a while?”

Nico looked down to hide a smile. His father missed him and wanted him to visit. It was a nice feeling. The Lord of the Underworld wasn’t the most touchy-feely of a father. The small gesture of affection meant the world.

“I think that could be arranged,” Nico told him.

Hades smiled a little at that, and he reached out to ruffle Nico’s hair. “I’m very proud of you, you know. So many of my children are consumed by the shadows. You have made the shadows your own and don’t let them control you. It makes _me_ happy to see one of my children be happy. It’s... a rare occurrence.”

“Thank you, dad,” Nico said around the lump in his throat. Making his father proud was all he had ever wanted. He never expected to earn his approval in this way.

Awkwardly, Lord Hades opened his arms in an obvious invitation for a hug. Nico laughed and embraced him just as awkwardly. He used the opportunity of having his face hidden in the dark robes to get his emotions under control a bit better.

He smiled as he stepped back. “I’ll be sure to drop by more often,” he promised.

“Thank you. And Nico, in those classes of yours… Am I always the villain in the stories?”

Hades looked so genuinely distressed that Nico started to laugh again.

“No, dad, you’re not,” he assured him. “In fact, you’re usually the _sane_ brother in the bunch. The guy upstairs can’t keep it in his pants, and ocean boy is a petty grudge-holder.”

He hoped a bolt of lightning didn’t appear to smote him for saying that. Especially since that was something Zeus already tried to do once before. It was sometimes hard to reconcile _Jason’s dad_ with the god who murdered his mother.

Hades expression following Nico’s answer bordered on childlike glee. “That is good to know,” he murmurred. “Very good to know…”

The shadows drew up around him and he vanished, leaving a chill in his wake. Nico rubbed his arms and wished he’d worn his jacket.

He tidied the temple a little, clearing the cobwebs from the corners. He was well aware that he was procrastinating, but he could justify that it was for a good reason. Sort of. When the temple was set to rights he lit an incense offering and said that prayer he’d come in to the temple for.

“Okay Nico, no more dawdling,” he told himself in a firm voice. Reyna deserved to see him. Even if she was angry at him for disappearing for so long.

Logically, he knew she wouldn’t be angry. A little hurt, perhaps, that he hadn’t trusted her enough to tell her beforehand that he needed some distance. But an apology and an explanation would go a long way in healing that hurt. Logic wasn’t doing much to help calm the anxiety in the pit of his stomach, though.

It wasn't a quick walk from the temple hill to the residential area, giving him plenty of time for his thoughts to run wild with all sorts of horrible things.

The last time he’d been at Camp Jupiter, he’d been under suspicion of being a spy and a traitor. What if she used that against him as punishment for up and disappearing on her without a word? Immediately after thinking that he scolded himself for even entertaining the idea that Reyna would be so petty. She’d smack him for that. If she wasn’t already planning on smacking him. The smackings were just multiplying. _This_ wasn’t how he wanted to visit his father!

Nico pulled himself together. He was being ridiculous and he knew it. She would greet him warmly and then scold him for going so long without an update, before wanting to hear all about what he’d been doing since they’d last parted ways. Because she was Reyna and she loved and trusted him. She was the closest thing he had left to a sister, really. Which was something he should tell her. Reyna respected him as a fellow soldier, which he appreciated a great deal, but he’d caught her on multiple occasions holding back maternal impulses. Secretly they’d made him hide a smile and feel a rush of warm affection towards her. Family was all he’d ever wanted and it seemed like at every turn his family got taken away from him. But maybe a found family could be just as good. Reyna had more than earned his love and trust in return. He missed having a big sister. Why had he waited so long to pay Reyna a visit?

Oh right, because she might smack him. That was definitely a big deterrent.

The buildings of New Rome appeared on the hill, bright white with vivid tiles on the roof. Despite being Greek by his godly parentage, New Rome felt much more like home to Nico than Camp Half-Blood ever had. Even without the bad memories associated with the camp, New Rome looked like Italy. The wide verandas and flowering gardens were like warm, welcoming arms of familiarity. He'd been back to Italy a few times since the battle against Gaea, wanting to bury the last memories he had of the place beneath good ones again. His childhood home was beautiful, and even his experience at the hands of the giants wasn't enough to take away his love for the crowded cities and sprawling farmlands.

At this time of day the streets weren't particularly busy, but there were people out and about, all whom immediately took notice of Nico. He approached the nearest - a former legionnaire by the marks on her arm and the symbol of Venus.

"Can I help you?" she asked warily.

"I'm looking for Reyna," he told her, knowing that her first name would be enough for anyone in New Rome to recognize.

"She's at the barracks, of course," the daughter of Venus continued in the same suspicious tone. "Who are you and what do you want?"

Nico drew himself up to his full height - which wasn't even past the girl's shoulder.

"I'm the emissary from the Greek camp," he explained. "A son of Hades. And a close friend of Reyna."

Well, at least he hoped she still considered him a friend.

The Roman girl still didn't look completely convinced.

"Well if you're a friend and an emissary, I don't have to tell you where the barracks are," she said.

"You don't," Nico agreed. "Thank you for your help. Have a nice day."

Bewildered by the fact that Nico wasn't at all intimidated by her, she stared at him with wide eyes as he walked off.

The barracks were yet another decent distance to walk. If he had been thinking, he would have gone _there_ first. Going to New Rome instead was just a stalling tactic disguised as making an effort. Or at least that was what his therapist would tell him. Stupid psycho-babble. When he’d started seeing the therapist it had taken him a long time to get used to the fact that sometimes she would tell him things that he didn’t necessarily want to hear. It was easy to blame other people for all his problems. It was _really fucking hard_ to take responsibility for negatively effecting himself with his own actions.

His therapist would be proud of him for taking responsibility and going to face Reyna. He would have to tell her about it. That is if he didn’t chicken out and shadow-travel away before he even found her.

Just as soon as the thought crossed his mind, the possibility of doing so was snatched away.

“Nico?” Reyna’s familiar voice exclaimed.

“Uh, hey-” Nico began, before he suddenly found himself engulfed in a very tight hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really liked the conversation between Nico and Hades in BoO (one of the few things I actually liked...) so I tried to replicate the nature of it within the canon of this fic. Also Nico and Reyna are A+ flawless BFFs perfect friendship hallelujah ♦


	5. Public Displays of Affection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shows up several months late without even Starbucks, bearing a painfully short update.

And that was how for the second time within the span of a week Nico found himself sitting at a kitchen table drinking tea with someone he hadn’t seen in years. The initial conversation had gone exactly the way he’d expected - scolding heavily laden with concern. Then she’d dragged him back here, and Piper made tea for all three of them, and here they were.

It was a little awkward being around Piper instead of just Reyna. Nico hadn’t gotten chance to get to know Piper in the short time they’d been in the same proximity. She was almost always with Jason or Leo, both of whom he tended to avoid for different reasons. A corner of his mind pondered how Leo reacted to Piper and Reyna’s relationship. Something along the lines of ‘that’s so hot, can I watch,’ most likely. He made a disgusted face just at the thought.

Reyna caught the look and cast him a quizzical glance. “Something wrong?”

“I was just thinking about Leo.”

Piper nearly spit out her tea and she covered her mouth to suppress a laugh. “Yeah, we’ve all been there,” she assured him.

A corner of Nico’s mouth quirked up a little. He and Piper were going to get along just fine. Which was good, because he could already see just how happy Reyna was with her. When Piper passed her a mug of tea they’d shared a small smile just because their hands touched. It was a quiet sort of intimacy that Nico felt a little embarrassed just to bear witness to, like he was intruding on something private.

He couldn’t imagine himself in a relationship like that. He’d had casual, short-lived flings, but nothing lasting. The idea of having someone be a part of his life and privy to every aspect of his existence was downright terrifying. Better to keep people at arm’s length.

“... and then we’ll be visiting New York in a couple of months, actually,” Nico caught Reyna saying and realized he’d spaced out.

“Yeah? Why’s that?”

“Oh, I’m Annabeth’s maid of honor,” Piper explained.

Whoa. Wait. What?

“Percy and Annabeth are getting married?” Nico asked belatedly.

He couldn’t imagine any other scenario that would involve Annabeth requiring a maid of honor. Percy and Annabeth were basically a universal constant that had survived two wars and, more amazingly, years of immature adolescent bullshit, primarily from Percy. Annabeth pretty much had her head on straight right from childhood. Nico had always respected her no-nonsense attitude and organizational skills. Which was why feeling jealous of her had really sucked. In a different situation they probably would have been friends, swapping fighting tactics and methods of explaining things to less-intelligent people.

Maybe he’d actually get the chance to befriend her now. His social circle had unexpectedly expanded to include all of the people he’d thought written him off and it wasn’t as terrible as he’d expected.

“Oh! I would have thought Percy would have told you when you saw him last week. He is practically incapable of talking about anything else,” Piper told him. “It’s nauseating. And this is coming from someone who spent time in the Aphrodite cabin. But anyway, they’re getting married in June.”

June. An early summer wedding. How incredibly appropriate for them and their 80's romcom 'high school sweethearts' love story. Well, if 80's romcoms had featured primordial monsters and meddling gods. Weirdly, he found himself wishing he’d been invited. Just another thing that everyone at Camp Half Blood decided to leave the Hades’ kid out of.

“Percy was a little busy being unconscious most of the time,” Nico explained. “And Jason wouldn’t have mentioned it because -” He cut himself off there. He couldn’t say that the son of Jupiter wouldn’t have told him for fear of upsetting him without explaining why, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to have that conversation right now. Telling Reyna was one thing, but he barely knew Piper.

They were both watching him expectantly. Shit. Maybe he should just do it and get it over with. His therapist was always encouraging him to be more open. It’s not like _they_ were going to judge him for it.

Nico took a deep breath, trying to quell the anxiety twisting his stomach up into knots. “Because he knows I used to have a crush on Percy, and he wouldn’t want to dig anything up.”

Piper’s eyes widened slightly and she slapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, shit, I’m sorry! I didn’t realize, I never would have sai-”

“It’s fine!’ Nico assured her quickly. Of course a child of Aphrodite would feel guilty about unintentionally causing someone heartache. “I specifically said ‘used to.’ But obviously Jason wouldn’t know that, since we haven’t spoken in so long.”

“What on earth is it about Percy Jackson?” Reyna said suddenly. “He’s a stubborn idiot and yet most of the smartest people I know of have been drawn to him. Including _myself_.”

“Wait, really?”

Nico was a bit floored by that revelation. He tried to imagine Reyna with Percy and couldn’t even process it. Reyna was just so intelligent and capable and... and...  and... a true _hero_. Well, he’d sort of seen Percy like that, too, way back when. But Reyna handled situations with forethought and wisdom, while Percy just kind of threw everything to the wind and hoped for the best. It was pretty miraculous that he was still alive, actually.

Reyna’s face was a little pink with embarrassment. “Back when he was a praetor at Camp Jupiter,” she confessed. “I suppose I’d always had this little fantasy of ending up in a relationship with my co-praetor. Companions on the battlefield and off. I know it’s super silly.”

“It’s not silly,” Nico found himself saying in unison with Piper, and they exchanged a glance and a small smile.

“Desiring romantic connections related to something important to your life is never silly,” Piper said, sounding like she’d repeated things like this often. “Although, I’m selfishly glad that they didn’t work out.”

“It definitely turned out in your favor,” Reyna teased, and they shared another loving gaze.

Was that kind of thing a requirement for being in a long-term relationship? Eugh.

“How’d that even come up with Jason, anyway?” Piper asked. “I mean, if you don’t mind me asking.”

Well he’d already told them this much. Nico gave them a condensed version of the confrontation with Cupid. Piper’s face grew continuously more disgusted, and Reyna was frowning throughout the entire thing.

“That’s so fucked up!” Piper exclaimed once he’d finished speaking. Reyna glanced at her in surprise, not expecting her girlfriend to be the first to protest on Nico’s behalf.

“Like, Aphrodite is kind of awful with being manipulative about matters of the heart but she’d never try to tear someone apart for no good reason other than to see them suffer,” Piper continued. “Well, probably not anyway. Cupid sounds like a huge asshole. I’m sorry that our success at the House of Hades came at such a cost, Nico.”

He shrugged with one shoulder. “We all would have died without the staff. Our lives are worth a little heartache.”

Reyna offered him a small smile. “You would have made a wonderful praetor, you know. You’ve already got the self-sacrificing to the point of insanity part down to a science.”

Nico laughed. “I think that’s actually a level of insanity that I haven’t reached quite yet. I’ll keep you posted, though.”

Reyna grinned. "Good to know I'm still the craziest one in the room."

They spent the rest of the afternoon on idle chit-chat, both of the girls being particularly fascinated with the variants of myths and legends Nico was studying in school.

"It sort of makes you wonder who created whom, you know?" Reyna mused after a lengthy explanation of primordial forces versus the traditional family relations pantheon. "Did the gods create humans or did the stories written by humans create the gods?"

"I've often wondered that myself," Nico confessed. "And if they need our belief to keep existing..."

"They really should stop taking us for granted and using us like pawns," Piper finished, looking angry.

"So who wants to risk certain death to go and tell them that?" Nico said dryly.

"Percy probably would," Reyna pointed out.

"Percy definitely would," Nico agreed. "No one say anything about this around him. He has the approximate impulse control of a toddler. And I really don't want to invite Annabeth's wrath."

It was so weird to be able to just casually talk like this. While he loved his friends at school, there was a huge part of his life that he couldn't share with them. They were respectful and supportive of his struggles with anxiety and depression but they'd never truly _understand_. These girls had faced the same horrors he had. He was beginning to understand more why the camps meant so much to most demigods. It was comforting to know he wasn't alone in this, too.

Nico was surprised to see that had grown dark outside, and he had to bid the girls goodbye, telling them that he had some homework to do.

 

"Please visit more often?" Reyna asked, smiling.

What is it with people making him promise to visit lately?

"I'll try to clear my schedule," Nico told her, smirking.

Reyna and Piper both hesitated, looking a little forlorn. Nico sighed and opened his arms up.

"Yeah, yeah, all you weird affectionate people," he mumbled as they laughed and hugged him.

As he stepped outside to ride the shadows home, he found that he was smiling.


	6. Jason Grace, Golden Retriever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every time I manage to update this, I tell myself I'm going to try to stick to a regular update schedule. And every single time I forget about this fic for like three months. Ugh.

Two weeks worth of nothing but normal human interaction later and Nico was feeling an itch under his skin for the other half of his world. Sparring with skeletons and a minor run-in with a monster so pitiful it barely earned the name wasn’t cutting it. He wanted to sit down with someone and talk about how many telekhines they could presumably take on at once again. (He and Reyna had only exaggerated a little in their estimations.)

He could go back over to California and see Reyna again… or he could go visit Camp Half-Blood. A place he’d mentally sworn to never go again. Going to Reyna was tempting but they’d pretty much exhausted all of the ‘catch up’ conversation and nothing particularly interesting had happened to Nico that would give them something else to talk about. And Jason had seemed like he’d actually want to see Nico again…

 

“Ugh, come on you big baby,” he scolded himself, pressing his palms to his eyes hard enough to make stars appear behind his eyelids. “You’re a goddamn adult who has his own apartment and all that jazz. You can visit a stupid summer camp and say hey to some old friends.”

Taking a deep breath as he made his decision, Nico purposely changed into something less drab, picking actual blue jeans and a faded teal shirt that at least had flowers along with the skull in the graphic design splashed across the front. He really didn’t need to walk back into camp still looking like the homeless emo kid he’d been at age fourteen. Maybe it would give people some time to change their perception of him.

 

Just before he was prepared to step into the shadows behind the bathroom door he happened to glance in the mirror, and decided to tie his hair back into a half-ponytail as well. With his bangs mostly away from his face, he looked much more open and soft. He chewed his lower lip. While it would probably work wonders for helping people see him differently, was he really comfortable with this level of vulnerability? Having his face exposed was like screaming ‘hey I’m an open book! Feel free to stare at me!’

Nico shook his head slightly. The other demigods always stared anyway, he might as well give them a chance to see who he was beyond ‘the son of Hades’ while they were at it. His therapist would be so proud of him. Tilting his chin up in the way he’d been taught to fake confidence until it was real, he stepped into the shadow and was gone.

 

It was always dark enough inside of Cabin 13 to ensure no shortage of shadows for Nico to arrive in. With a soft sigh he looked around the familiar interior. The beds were still horribly tacky, and he smiled sadly at the fine layer of dust on everything. He was probably the last person who would ever need the use of this cabin, considering how much better his father had been at honoring the agreement to never have children again. Which was sort of ironic, since there would have been three of them, outnumbering all the other kids of the Big Three. Nico scrubbed at his eyes with the back of his arm. Fuck, sometimes he really missed his sisters.

He sat down on the floor as he tried to calm down, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the cabin wall. “I wish you were still around, Hazel,” he murmured to the darkness. “Being an only child really sucks. Even Percy sort of has a sibling. But I’m glad I got to be your big brother, even though it wasn’t for very long. I hope everything is going well for you on the other side. I think you’d be proud of how far I’ve come. You too, Bi. I miss you both so much. Maybe in your new lives you’ll get the chance to meet each other. That’d be awesome.”

Nico let the tears roll down his cheeks even as he smiled at the thought of his sisters actually getting to know each other. “Love you.” He let the grief roll over him in waves, not trying to fight it. “Accept the sorrow as it comes, but don’t dwell on it,” his therapist’s voice said in his head.

As the immediacy of the pain faded, he focused on happy memories he had of the girls. Sharing sweets with Bianca before the war. Helping Hazel learn to use a sword. Sorting his Mythomagic cards curled up on the end of Bianca’s bed while she studied. Sitting on the roof of the temple of Pluto with Hazel, silent as they stared at the stars. Once the tears stopped he stood and wiped his eyes, heading into the bathroom to blow his nose and splash his face with cold water.

 

Nico stood staring into the mirror, waiting for the redness of his eyes and nose to recede. The wispy hairs around his face had curled up thanks to the water, making him look even younger. He scowled slightly. Stupid babyface, no wonder he was always getting carded. Granted his ID was actually fake because he was only eighteen, but still! Lost in thought, he jumped when he heard the sound of a muffled explosion. He wondered who it was this time - the Ares kids, the Hermes kids, or the Hephaestus kids? Whoever was responsible, the adults would have their hands full controlling the disaster. He shrugged and figured he’d help them out, since he was here.

When he exited his cabin, he swept his gaze over everything that was currently on fire. Well, he couldn’t really do anything about fire. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea, since they were also just standing around staring at the fire.

“Really, guys?” a familiar voice exclaimed in exasperation. “One of these days I’m not going to be around and you’ll need a backup plan for these situations.”

Nico laughed. “Oh come on Percy, you know you love to be needed!” he called.

Percy’s head whipped around and his facial expression went from shocked to delighted. That was definitely a first. A few years ago his heart would have done backflips at the sight. It was thankfully still aside from a small twinge of gratefulness that someone was actually happy to see him.

“Nico! Nice to see you again, man! Give me just a second to do damage control.”

Nico nodded understandingly and watched a little geysers appeared around the patches of flames, effectively extinguishing them. Soon everything was damp and lightly steaming, but no longer on fire. He clapped politely and Percy grinned, jogging over to him.

“So what brings you here?” he asked.

Nico shrugged. “Jason said he’d like to see me again.”

“Oh, I see how it is. You’ll come see Jason but not me.” Percy’s expression was very convincingly hurt as he clutched at his heart as if Nico had deeply wounded him with his words.

“Jason is hotter than you,” Nico said immediately, smirking. “He’s got that whole star jock who is secretly a sensitive soul thing going on. You’re just a reckless beanpole.”

Percy raised his eyebrows slightly before grinning. “So you think Jason is hot?” he asked.

Nico flushed. “Hotter than you,” he repeated quickly. “And that’s not saying much.”

Percy laughed. “I’ll have you know that plenty of people have found me attractive. Hell, I even got the most beautiful woman in the world to agree to marry me! But Jason is pretty smokin’. If I was single I probably would have been tempted to switch teams for his sake.”

That stung a little, but Nico pushed it aside. Percy didn’t mean anything by it, there was no way he could have known about his previous feelings.

“Oh, speaking of the most beautiful woman in the world, do you want to come to my wedding?” Percy exclaimed excitedly, grabbing Nico’s hands.

The son of Hades carefully extracted his hands, giving Percy a firm look. “I’m not a fan of being touched,” he reminded him. “But sure. It’s in June, right? Reyna and Piper told me,” he explained to Percy’s expression of confusion.

Percy nodded. “I would have asked you sooner, I mean I’d probably would have had you as one of my groomsmen, but you kind of went off the grid. And I figured you probably wouldn’t have appreciated someone tracking you down and bothering you.”

“Speaking of bothering,” Nico interrupted, ignoring the way he felt suddenly warm and accepted at the casual way Percy had said he would have wanted him in his wedding. “How’d you and Jason know where I was living?”

Percy flushed and grinned sheepishly. “Okay, maybe I had planned on tracking you down before Annabeth advised me not to. I have connections just about everywhere, I can find any demigod I want, really. Originally I just wanted to check on you, but Annabeth convinced me to just ask my dad to ask your dad if you were okay.”

Nico’s eyebrows shot up. “And your dad actually did?”

“Yup!” Percy chirped. “He was super not happy about it, but he did it. Hades of course acted like Poseidon was being obnoxious, but I’m pretty sure he was actually glad that I wanted to know if you were doing alright.”

So someone had actually been thinking about him, and worrying about his well-being. Nico was pleasantly surprised.

Percy could be a little oblivious at times, but that was mainly just his survival instincts that rarely left room for thinking about anything else, because deep down he was concerned about all of his friends. Even ones who had almost sold him out to being trapped in a dungeon for several years.

Nico smiled slightly. “Thanks, Percy, that means a lot, actually.”

Percy beamed. “Can I give you just one brief hug?” he asked hopefully.

Nico sighed. “Fine,” he grumbled.

He grunted as Percy swept him up into a tight embrace, actually lifting him up off his feet.

“Okay, okay, that’s enough,” Nico protested, kicking his legs until the other demigod set him down.

“Sorry. Got a little carried away.”

“It’s alright, I gue-”

“Nico!”

The excited exclamation of his name caused Nico to startle, turning to see a very excited Jason Grace. And there was that little stomach flutter again. Fucking shit.

“Hey,” Nico said, fighting down a blush. “What’s up?”

“I didn’t expect to see you here!” Jason gushed, pulling himself up short before he flung his arms around the shorter demigod.

Nico sighed. “Oh, go ahead. You might as well.”

Jason grinned and pulled Nico into his arms.

Percy was pouting when they parted.

“Jason got a longer hug than I did,” he complained.

“Jason didn’t yank me off my feet and try to squeeze the life out of me,” Nico pointed out. “You should just be grateful you got a hug out of me in general.”

Jason bounced lightly on the balls of his feet, looking like he was trying very hard to not grin like an idiot.

“So what brings you here?” Jason asked, unknowingly parroting Percy exactly.

“I got bored,” Nico said with a shrug. “I came to see if anybody might be up for a sparring match or something.”

He glared at Percy, who had opened his mouth with a mischievous glint in his eye. He absolutely knew that the son of Poseidon was about to say something about how that wasn’t what Nico had told him. In a rare show of tact, Percy’s mouth snapped shut, but he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Well the training grounds are a little, uh, soggy at the moment," Jason said, looking around at the damage done by the fire and water.

"I can stick around for a while," Nico said casually.

"I suddenly remembered I have something I need to be doing!" Percy blurted. "I'll catch you guys later. Bye!"

The son of Poseidon turned and sped away. Nico internally groaned. Just great. Now Percy was playing matchmaker?

 

"So," Jason began awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Um."

The tips of the blond's ears were tinged with pink, and he couldn't manage to look directly at Nico. The younger demigod forced down hope that maybe, just _maybe_ , there was a chance...

"I haven't been at camp in four years, want to give me a refresher tour?" Nico suggested.

Jason brightened. “Oh yeah, yeah, sure!”

Nico hid a smile. Sometimes Jason sort of looked like a golden retriever.

 

Jason chattered eagerly while Nico remained mostly silent, although he nodded encouragingly every now and then to assure the other demigod that he was still listening. The son of Jupiter told Nico about everything they’d added, both for the camp - they were actually going to do something about the lack of education other than monster-killing! - and honoring the minor gods that he’d promised to do before the war with Gaea.

“It’s sort of odd that so many of the minor gods still existed, you know?” Nico said suddenly.

“What do you mean?” Jason asked, looking a little startled that Nico had finally spoken.

Nico hesitated, collecting his thoughts. “Well, you know how there used to be separate gods for the sun and the moon? Artemis and Apollo sort of superceded Selene and Helios. They like… just got absorbed into the more powerful gods. Which is fascinating, because Artemis is an eternal maiden and Selene wasn’t. So what happened to that part of Selene? If those gods could just disappear because no one needed them anymore, why didn’t that happen to any of the others?”

Jason frowned, rubbing his chin. “That’s a very good question,” he murmured.

“I was talking to Reyna and Piper about this, about how the discrepancies in the stories seem to all be true somehow,” Nico continued in a low voice. “And it makes me sort of wonder, would the gods even exist if humans hadn’t started telling stories about them?”

Jason’s eyes widened. “That’s a dangerous thing to say,” he said, looking around nervously.

Nico laughed. “Do I look like someone who fears danger?” he asked. “I’ve faced death more times than I can count. Literally, in fact. I’m not afraid of reminding the gods of some uncomfortable truths.”

Jason shook his head slightly, running a hand through his hair. “Sometimes I think you’re more reckless than Percy.”

Nico grinned wickedly. “Oh, I’m definitely more reckless than Percy,” he said confidently. “Percy makes his decisions on the spur of the moment because he’s trying to survive. I know exactly what I’m getting into and I do it anyway. You worried about me, Grace?” He lightly nudged Jason with his elbow, dropping his voice into a teasing purr.

Jason turned bright red and he tripped over his own feet.

“Maybe a little,” he said, coughing into his hand.

Internally Nico was kicking himself. Had he seriously just flirted with Jason Grace? What the hell was wrong with him?

 

Nico stretched his arms over his head, hoping that no evidence of his inward conflict was showing on his face. “The training grounds are probably dry enough to spar. You up to the task?”

Jason scoffed. “Are you?” he challenged. “You didn’t even bring your sword.”

“Didn’t I?” Nico said, smirking.

A small miasma of black and purple appeared around his left hand, and then his Stygian iron sword was firmly in his grasp. “I’ve learned a few new tricks in the past four years.”

“That’s convenient,” Jason said, looking a little bit nervous.

“We should probably establish some ground rules,” Nico said, swinging his sword absently as they walked together. “Using our powers is probably unfair. We don’t really want to cause mass destruction again to today. We are adults and all, have to set a good example.”

Jason nodded in agreement. “So just a straightforward duel?” he asked. “Whoever is disarmed first wins?”

Nico snorted. Oh Jason. “That’s boring,” he said. “Because then we’re both just trying to disarm each other. No, to first blood.”

“Nico, that’s-!” Jason tried to protest.

“Oh come on!” Nico cut him off, almost pleading. “We have plenty of ambrosia on hand and the Apollo campers to patch us up. I’m not saying we should try to mortally wound each other but a little cut on an arm or something isn’t going to kill us.”

Nico bounced lightly, looking up at Jason hopefully. One good thing about having a baby face is that it was hard for anyone to resist him when he amped his puppy dog look up to eleven.

“Fine,” Jason sighed. “But I don’t want your dad dragging me to the underworld by my ear because I hurt his baby.”

Nico burst out laughing. “You think you’ll actually land a hit on me?” he exclaimed. “Oh Jason Grace, in your dreams.”

 


	7. Chapter 7

**I apologize to anyone who has enjoyed this fic, but as of right now it will be placed on indefinite hiatus.**

 

I don’t have a ton of time to write. I am an adult with the responsibilities of maintaining my own home and working a full time job. Writing is a hobby, and one with very little outside reward, at that. Feedback on writing is extremely minimal, and the few comments I do get are just demands to update. (That’s really rude, people, don’t do that.) 

 

I have to write for myself and my own enjoyment, else it feels like a chore. _Right now this fic is not enjoyable to write_. I’m not as passionate about this series as I was when I first started writing this fic. I’m also not really interested in Jasico as a ship. 

To be entirely honest, the other shippers of Jasico have completely turned me off of it. Their outright dismissal of canon material and rabid insistence that ‘their’ ship is ‘more correct’ is downright sickening. I happen to also love Solangelo, and I adore Will Solace as a character. I relate to him more than any other character in this series. Seeing him continuously demonized by Jasico fans is disheartening and poisoned the ship for me.

 

On top of that, a commenter has been harping on me for my decision to make Nico a comic book fan. Because for some reason it’s too much of a stretch of the imagination to picture young Nico taking comfort in comics when he was a child in the United States prior to entering the Lotus Casino. Not really sure why that was such an important detail to them, but hey, some people apparently don’t have lives and responsibilities like I do.

  
I would like to eventually continue this fic, which is why I’m not outright abandoning it. I like how I was developing Nico’s story and the healing process I had created for him. Should I feel inspired again, I may create more content for this fic. But for now this is all there’s going to be.


End file.
